Adjustable domestic tool carriage



Nov. 7, 1950 w. w. DICK ADJUSTABLE DOMESTIC TOOL CARRIAGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 27, 1948 3nnentor Nov. 7, i950 w. w. DICK 2,528,872

ADJUSTABLE DOMESTIC TOOL CARRIAGE (Ittorneg Patented Nov. 7, 1950 v ADJUSTABLE-DOMESTIC r oomarries: i Wade flick, ShreveportLLa. h jsp u ationnugusgzv, istsg sernm .4 ,523

" My-invention relates to carriages adapted to support and transport household tools and the like to convenient locations for .use by a cleaner or other operator, My invention more specifically relates to an adjustable carriage for holding and transporting a vacuum cleaner together \v-itlijits various attachments; and furthermore, a carriage wherein one pair of its supporting legs-is verti- Cally ad'justably'mounted' inthe body of the carriage to adapt the carriage to safely and easily rest on the tread of a stairway. While the prior art shows vehicles capable of holding vacuum cleaners, as far as I know, no one before my invention has supplied" an adjustable vacuum cleaner carriage that is adapted to be adjusted so that it will rest in a safe position onastairway. f

An object of m invention is to provid'ea carriage wherein an end pair of its supporting wheels isarranged to be turnedinto and locked in cro'ssg wise directions with respect to the other pair of the carriages wheels to serve'as a brake to prevent forward or reverse movementsof the carriage. Another object of my invention-is" to provide acarriage, wherein one of the end pair of the Wheels supporting the carriage is mounted one: pair of vertically adjustable and rotatably mount-= ed legs of the carriage and wherein the carriage is provided with a clamping mechanism used not only for clamping the adjustable legs of the carriage in vertically adjusted positions-to make the carriage sit level when supported by two or' more treads of a stairway; but which clamping means is also for .use in clamping'the legs-in turned positions to bring the wheels in "crosswise position with respect to the other pair of'wheels supporting the carriagetopreve'nt "the carriage from: rolling down-the stairway. f

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in the course of my general descrip tion of the invent on describing the embodiment of my invention illustrated in myaccompanying drawings. In general, my invention comprises a carriage" provided with a pan-shaped top, which top is provided with a pair of straps for strapping'the vacuum cleaner to the top. I also prov-id'ethe carriage with a pan-like shelf, which shelf is used as a storage space for carrying the attach ments of the vacuum cleaner. The rear pair "of the legs of the carriage is slidably mounted :on.

the carriage so that the vehicle may be adjusted to sit level when supported by the treads'ofa stairway. These rear adjustable-legs which carry" 7 Claims.* (01. eery-43),] f

at; their. bases the rear are rotatably mounted in the; carriage so: that the rear legsand the wheels on their lower ,ends.

may be turned crosswise 'with respect .to the front pair of wheels ofthe carriager The carriageis also provided with'a means forilockingthese ad-s justable-legs-both' as to vertically adjusted pos1- tion'szin thebody of the carriage and as to/their rotated positions :in'the body of. the carriage; In my accompanying drawingsI show'an embod-- iment of my invention which I willdescribe in detail to-further explain my invention.

:-In thedrawingsz- Figural-is a perspective-view of avehicle-mader" I according to the teachings of: myinvention, showing it in use holding a vacuum cleaner-and parts:

'FFlgUIe-I is ra diagrammatici view of the rear;

end; of the carriage illustrating the rearleg ad-- justment features of myinvention. Referringgto the; drawings, numeral. desig.

hates the main body portion of my inventionin:

an adjustable domestic tool carriage ID, Numeral,

llll- I2 designates a pan-shaped top of the. carriage: body portion H which is provided with a-pair of adjustable straps l3 for use in strappingdowrr the vacuum cleaner V. The'mainbody portion H isalsoprovided with a pan-like shelf l4 posi tioned directly underneath the top l2 andused for'holding'v'arious vacuum cleaner attachments- The top l2 and pan-like shelf M are joined to gether. by means of four corner angle-shaped; spacers: l5 which embrace both the top f2 and.

shelf" l4..

= The-carriage I0 is provided with-a pair offront supporting legs I5 square in cross section. The

front legs I 6 are: rigidly fastened to the front pair: offiangle-shaped spacers l5 by means of bolts or other-means of fastening; The front supportinglegsi l6 are madesquare-in cross section tofacilitate'th'eir: assembly into "the carriage, but

its bottomend; 1

wheels of" the carriage;-

c Metal straps l9 are soldered or otherwise fastened to the front angle-shaped spacers l through which straps the tube sections T extend ends are provided with aligning stop notches 23 for use with another member flofmy'invention to, be described later for locking the rear supporting legs 20 in their fully extended positions as best seen in Figure 1 of the drawings. The rear supporting legs are each provided with a cram; handle 24 each of whichcarries a handle knob25 for use in turning the crank handle 24 and the reaifsupporting legs 29 'to whichithe crankihandle's' 2'4 arerigid1y attached. I make the rear supporting: legs- 20 square in cross section for functional reasons as will be explained later. The'rea'r supporting legs 20 extend through vertically aligned holes, upper holes 26 in the top IZandloWer holes 21 in the shelf l4. Both sets of holes are made large enough for the rear legs 20' to freely slide through them and to beeasily rotated in them. Both of the sets of holes, upper holes 26 and lower holes 21, extend through the corners of the top 12 and shelf M respectively in 7 order to allow the rear supporting legs' 20 to be pushes :the rear supporting legs 20 into contact" with the lower ends of the spacers 5. The upper ends of 'the rear supporting legs 20 are held close to the upper ends of the spacers |5 by means of' surface portions of corners'of the'top 2 which define the'upper holes 26.

' The spring actuated clamping means 28 is comprised of a base 28 which is fastened along the under side of an end'edge of the shelf M A"cros'sbar36 carrying apair of presser fingers (H-and a handle 33 terminating in a knob 34 is hinged to'the base by means-of a'pair of spaced spring hinges 35 arranged to urge the presser fingers 3| into gripping contact with flat sur-' faces -of the rear supporting legs 20 with which these presser fingers 3| are aligned. The presser fingers 3| are extended outwardly fromthe crossbar '30 in parallel curved directions commen'cing 'in gradual curves and'ending in sharply' curved formations 32 which portions of the presser fingers 3| are adapted to fit into locking position inthe aligning stop notches 23 when the rear legs 20 areextended full length whether the 'rear wheels 22 are aligned inrlengthwise,

position 'of the carriage'or in crosswise position; I'use spring hinges 35 which are sufliciently strong to exert enoughpressure onilat portions of the rear legs 29 to maintain the rear legs in proper vertically adjusted positions supporting theload of a vacuum cleaner 7V and parts :of

same such as shown in Figure iii-wherein. theeach f said second mentioned legs is provided 4 rear legs 20 are raised up to rest on an elevated tread of the stairway s.

In adjusting the carriage ID for positioning on a stairway S, the operator should hold the handle H of the vacuum cleaner strapped to the carriage to support the carria e Ill and the vac-' uum cleaner V while he depresses the handle 33 of the clamping means 28 to release the rear legs 20. After the rear legs 20 have assumed their 'proper'v'ertical positions in bringing the carriage I0 into a, horizontal position, the operator releases the handle 33 allowing the spring hinges 35 th again urge the presser, fingers 3| int contact with the fiat faces of the rear legs 20.

The next thing the operator does is to turn the crank handles '24 to the left or to the right to force the rear legs 20 into positions, against the pressure of the spring hinges 35, to align the rear wheels 22 into crosswise'non-rolling position as best seen in Figure 3 to prevent the carriage ID from rolling down the stairway S. On someoccasions itamight be desirable to turn the rear. wheels 22 as shown in Figure 3 to prevent the carriage In from being moved'forward and back-Q war'd'in; its normal position with the rear legs 20 fully extended. r I, .1 Myinventionin a carriage Ill may be made outof any suitable material such as woods, plas-' tics-or metal. I have found sheet metal'to be avery desirabl material out of which to fabri-g cate most of the carriage. The adjustable" straps I3 should preferably be made out of a leather material or some fabric.

ably-and rotatably mounted in said bodypor tion' adjacent the opposite end of said body, portion, each of which legs is provided with a pairv of longitudinally:extending flat surface portions lying in right-angularly intersecting planes; each of said second mentioned legs terminat: ing in a bifurcated end in which 'a "wheel is rotatably mounted, a spring actuated ,clamping'i means provided with presser fingers ada'pted, ,to contact said flat surfaces .of said second men;

tioned legs to frictionally hold saidlegs in r091. tated: positions in said body portion, whereby said'carriage may be rested in a horizontal. posiv tion on separate-treads of a stairwa or-the like and whereby said second mentioned legs may be rotated and held in positions to align said wheels:

carried'by the same into crosswise position with respect to the length of said carriage. 2 .j-The carriageas claimed in claim 1, wherein with. aperipherally extending groove in which saidipresser fingers are adapted to sit to locksaid second -mentioned legs in their fully e39; tended positions andwherein each of :said; sec-l;

0nd, mentioned legs is provided with a crank:

handle for turning the same in opposition to the pressure exerted on second mentioned legs by said spring actuated clamping means.

4. The carriage as claimed in claim 1, wherein said top surface is made pan-shaped and is provided with an adjustable strap adapted to secure a vacuum cleaner or the like on said top.

5. The carriage as claimed in claim 1, wherein said top surface is made pan-shaped and is provided with an adjustable strap adapted to secure a vacuum cleaner on said top surface and wherein said body portion includes a pan-shaped shelf positioned beneath said top surface adapted to hold vacuum cleaner parts and attachments and wherein said first mentioned legs REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 612,278 Schlunz Oct. 11, 1898 696,535 Bailey Apr. 1, 1902 2,436,647 Huey Feb. 24, 1948 

